FTC Mounts Probe Of VeriSign's Marketing Practices

Communications Today, August 12, 2002

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is looking into VeriSign's [VRSN] marketing practices, on allegations that the company may have deceived some of its customers. The company, which, among other things, registers Internet addresses and provides security for online transactions, has in recent months faced a growing number of lawsuits charging it with deceptive marketing practices.

FTC sources say the agency now is trying to determine whether VeriSign acted wrongfully in efforts to attract customers to its domain name registration business. Some of the lawsuits accuse the company of illegally obtaining information about rivals in order to move customers to VeriSign's portfolio of services.